Who knew that being sent to Coventry would be so much fun? We soon settled in to our new venue, and the theme of ‘Favourite Puzzles’ unsurprisingly brought out a dazzling display of vintage and modern puzzles from 17 club members. Everyone, meanwhile, was tackling puzzles, until every table in the large conference room was occupied. The 3,000 piece puzzle was completed, for the first time in several years. A vintage puzzle with 30 pieces needing repainting was restored to its former glory through a cooperative effort.
Heather of Puzzlewoo
d gave an engaging talk about her more than 20 years of puzzle cutting experience. She recalled that once, while demonstrating puzzle cutting, a small boy had watched her unblinkingly until eventually she asked, “Are you waiting for me to cut myself?” “Yes,” he said. Meanwhile, another cutter Genest (Le Colimacon) offered identical copies of one of his puzzles for a speed puzzling competition.
There was the usual rush for the sales tables when they opened, by the usual suspects. On offer were giveaways and absolute bargains, as well as new hand-cut puzzles and vintage treasures.
Trish produced a birthday cake with candles to celebrate the birthday of Pete, our chair. Our AGM was despatched with our usual efficiency, and we welcomed Delia as a committee member.
Geert gave a provocative and well-researched speech, showing that while John Spilsbury 
was certainly an early seller of dissected maps, he was not their inventor or the first person to promote their use to teach geography to children. David introduced the new members’ section of the BCD website.
Hotel staff seemed bemused by the idea that club members needed to continue puzzling until midnight, but in other respects the new venue proved well adapted to our needs. Some of us are already looking forward to next year – the next 3,000 piece puzzle has already been purchased…